FAQ: Merchant Statements

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Is there a recommended way to use my statement to reconcile my business's payments? There is so much information, where should I start?
Merchant statements provide a wealth of payment processing data and their use varies based on your business's needs and size. Single-location statements are divided into 7 sections.

Merchant Statement Sections (in order):

Deposit Summary

Funding Summary

Credit Card Summary

Tax Information

Chargebacks & Reversals

Financial Adjustments

Charges & Fees

To quickly assess how much money you made, first look at the Funding Summary section on your merchant statement. This section displays how much money your business was funded by Chase Paymentech by day. It will also display any other events that affected the amount you were funded such as a chargeback, an adjustment or fee.

If you see a chargeback that you want more information on, go back to the Chargebacks & Reversals section. Is there an adjustment that seems out of place? Return to the Financial Adjustments section. (Note that for a multi-location statement, these will be sub-sections within the Charges & Fees section.)

Why did I not receive my statement?
There are a few reasons why you may not have received your statement.

You are set up to receive statements by email and your email address is incorrect in our system. If the email returned to Chase Paymentech as "undeliverable," then we mailed you a copy of the statement via postal service to the mailing address on file.

You are set up to receive statements by standard mail (or your emailed statement was returned and so we sent it via standard mail) and your mailing address is incorrect.

You did not have any payment processing activity for the month.

If either your email or mailing address is incorrect, please call your account representative or contact support now so we can update your records.

For more details on your processing and funding activity, we encourage you to set up a free account for Resource Online, which offers instant access to your statement electronically, the moment it is available.

Are my statements available online?
Absolutely! You can access your statements from anywhere you have Internet access with our secure set of reporting tools, Resource Online, featuring the Instant Dashboard, for small businesses. If you do not have a user account for this service, please contact support so we can get you set up.

How does my billing cycle affect my charges and fees?
Charges and fees are complex and may differ among merchants due to many factors including type of business and volume of transactions processed.

You were set up for a specific billing cycle to best meet your business's needs. A billing cycle is how often Chase Paymentech bills you for services. Most merchants are set up on a daily, weekly or monthly billing cycle. For example, merchants set up on a monthly billing cycle will have processing fees debited on a monthly basis. This means fees for January would be billed and withdrawn from funding within the first few days of February. Billing activity will appear on February's statement, even though the fees relate to transactions processed in January.

This apparent discrepancy may be evident regardless of whether your business receives daily, weekly or monthly statements. If you are still uncertain about your billing cycle, you can call the telephone number on your statement or contact support.

Why did I get charged an account minimum fee?
An account minimum fee (sometimes also referred to as a monthly minimum) is assessed if your business does not meet its agreed-upon transaction volume (not enough transactions were run). Your specific minimum processing requirements are laid out in the pricing schedule of your contract (often referred to as a Schedule A).

Why aren't all of my sale/refund transactions on my statement?
The statement is a summary of your business's financial activity. Individual transactions cannot be displayed on statements due to space and size restrictions.

Chase Paymentech offers access to Resource Online, a comprehensive set of reporting tools that offers a more detailed look at your business's card processing and funding activity. Small business merchants will also receive the Instant Dashboard, which provides a quick snapshot of your business performance. If you do not have a user account for this service, please contact support so we can get you set up.

Why was I charged for a particular fee?
The majority of merchant account fees are assessed by the payment brands (such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc.). Other fees are incurred based on a provided service (such as a chargeback or authorization). The How to Read Your Statement interactive tool is now available and it includes Additional Statement Terms to help you understand your fees as well as the Statement Reader Guide for a more in-depth explanation of how to interpret your merchant statement. If you still have a question, please call your account executive or contact support.

How does Resource Online compare to each section on the statement?

Deposit Summary section – In Resource Online, on the Recon Solution menu, select Daily Report View and click Batch Summary. If you have the Instant Dashboard, you can look at the Sales Summary panel.

Funding Summary section – In Resource Online, on the Recon Solution menu, select Settlement Review and click Settlement Summary Select. If you have the Instant Dashboard, you can also look at the Settlement Summary panel.

Credit Card Summary section – In Resource Online, on the Recon Solution menu, select Daily Report View and click Card Type Summary Report. If you have the Instant Dashboard, you can look at the Card Summary panel.

You'll find that the reports and panels in Resource Online are not exact copies of the statement sections as they represent similar data that may be presented in a slightly different manner.

In the Funding Summary section, why would the amount transferred be negative? How does this happen?
The amount transferred could be negative if the subtractions to your account (all refunds, fees and adjustments) exceed the total amount of positive sales activity.

What is a chargeback? What is a reversal?
A chargeback is a reversal of the dollar value, in whole or in part, of a particular transaction. It is initiated by the card-issuing bank, either due to a technicality or on behalf of the cardholder.
Chargebacks can be handled manually as a paper process or you can contact support to discuss adding our Online Chargeback Management tool to your Resource Online account.

What is a financial adjustment? Why would one occur?
A financial adjustment is a manual addition or subtraction made to the amount funded to the merchant. Reasons for financial adjustments are varied, but the most common one is a supply purchase such as printer paper.

Why is there a section dedicated to my Tax ID Number?
The Tax Information area was added to the merchant statement in response to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) mandate. This area lets you know whether or not action is required on your part to ensure the Tax ID Number (TIN) we have on file matches IRS records.

Why is the Total Fees value positive in the Charges & Fees section but then it is negative on the Funding Summary section?
Generally speaking, each statement section is displayed from the perspective of its content. Fees are represented positively in the Charges & Fees section to come up with a total amount of charges and fees. However, because charges and fees are items that by definition are owed by and deducted from the merchant, the total amount shows up as a negative on the Funding Summary section. Positive amounts on the statement are displayed in black and negative amounts are displayed in red and enclosed in parentheses. This may be easier to read if you view your statement electronically, either via email or through Resource Online.

Here's a cheat sheet:

Statement Section

Font Color and Style for Negative Amounts (Debit)

Font Color for Positive Amounts (Credit)

Explanation

Deposit Summary

(Red)

Black

Deposits are amounts added to the merchant account, therefore, a credit is black and a debit (or credit to the cardholder's account) is red.

Funding Summary

(Red)

Black

Funding is the amount added to the merchant account, therefore, a deposit is black and a subtraction to the deposit is red.

Credit Card Summary

(Red)

Black

Deposits are amounts added to the merchant account, therefore, a credit is black and a debit (or credit to the cardholder's account) is red.

Chargebacks & Reversals

(Red)

Black

Chargebacks are "charged back to the merchant" meaning they were initiated to get money back for the customer from the merchant and reversals are, by definition, reversing the chargeback and giving the money back to the merchant. Therefore, a credit to the merchant account is black and a debit is red.

Financial Adjustments

Black

(Red)

Financial adjustments are debited from the merchant account, therefore, a debit is black and a credit is red.

Charges & Fees

Black

(Red)

Fee are amounts subtracted from the merchant account, therefore, a debit is black and a credit is red.

Why can't my statements be emailed to more than one email address?
To protect the security of your sensitive data, statements can be emailed to only one email address. However, multiple user accounts can be set up for our Resource Online reporting tool, which offers 24x7x365 access to your statements. Statements are typically available in Resource Online within 2-5 business days after the end of your statement period.

My statement is delivered via email but there is no file attached or I cannot open the attached statement.
Merchant statement emails include an attached PDF document. Your email software may be set to filter out attachments. First, check your email software or server security filters settings. In order to view the attached PDF document, you must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 7.0 or higher installed.

For more details on your processing and funding activity, we encourage you to set up a free account for Resource Online, which offers instant access to your statement electronically, the moment it is available.

Why does my Resource Online account display statements for outlets that have closed?
Outlets/merchants within your account hierarchy will continue to report up to 182 days after closure/cancellation. This ensures that any outstanding transactions are captured and reported, such as chargebacks that can still legally occur after the outlet has closed.